Ice covers every green leaf,
blue berry, bare branch –
clear, heavy, bending, breaking.
The weight of water, freezing flow
as if time were captured
the glistening moment caught
in a watery transparent shroud –
cessation, ceaseless, sensate time at last!

Frozen form, fractured,
snapping in the wind,
breaking in sharp shards
into the bright air,
crackling onto the brittle snow below
time, once again, set free.

Portland, Oregon – February 2014